The Vikings' 38 penalties this season are the 10th fewest among teams that have played five games.

Among Vikings players, cornerback Xavier Rhodes is in a familiar spot atop the penalty leaderboard with four. Since his rookie year in 2013, Rhodes has finished first in penalties every season. He did share the top spot with former left tackle Matt Kalil in 2014.

It's no surprise that a shutdown corner would be a team's most penalized player. In terms of trying to avoid penalties, left tackle might be the only position that comes even close to the level of difficulty Rhodes faces as he shadows the opponent's No. 1 receiver for 60 minutes (or more) each week.

In his career, Rhodes has 24 holding penalties and 17 pass interference penalties. But, overall, his penalty totals have fallen from 12 in 2015 to 11 in 2016 to nine a year ago.

He has four in five games. But last year he had four in three games before finishing with only five in the final 13 regular season games.

MARK CRAIG